Move 8
 

It is agreed that if 8. e4 then our reply is 8...d6 with all other moves needing a discussion if not already done so here.

OK, 8.e4..d6.

Aye aye.

Well, if 8.e4 then we could indeed reply 8...d6. But it isn't such a forced move as it would have been at move 7 if they'd played 7.e4 because we can alternatively castle leaving e8 as a retreat square for the knight in the event of their playing e5. If 8.e4 O-O 9.e5?! Ne8 10.Be2 d6 gives us a fine game i.m.o.

Still, they're not likely to make the mistake of playing 9.e5 there. Simply continuing their kingside development with 9.Bf1-any and 10.O-O is in order, I would suggest, and we'll probably want to play ...d6 very soon anyway.

I think I'd be happy with either 8...d6 or 8...O-O in reply to 8.e4.

There is one other possibility if we castle it would allow e6 instead of d6 if they move the bishop.

[QUOTE=WMHalsdorf;396075]There is one other possibility if we castle it would allow e6 instead of d6 if they move the bishop.[/QUOTE]
Hmm, that would be interesting. Does allowing them to play d5-d6 work well for us?

8.e4 O-O 9.Be2 e6 10.d6 and now not 10...Ne8? 11.e5 with a huge advantage, but 10...Nc6 to answer 11.e5? with 11...Ng4. We are ready to play ...e5 leaving their pawn on d6 vulnerable. Interesting! I'm not sure about it. What do you both think?

Obviously they would not be required to play 10.d6 there. But we would need to be sure that 10.d6 is a bad move for them.

If they don't play 10.d6 then we are ready to open the e file.

At least 8...O-O leaves this possibility open to us, as you say.

Perhaps, on second thoughts, 8.e4 O-O 9.Be2 e6 10.d6 Ne8 would be good alternative for us after all because after 11.e5 simply 11...f6.

They've just played 8.e4 as expected.

I'm just off for a four-day period. I am still happy with either of the moves 8...O-O or 8...d6. I have a slight preference for 8...O-O on principle, because I don't think we need to play 8...d6 yet. But if you two want to play either of these two moves during my absence, please go ahead. In case there's more to discuss I'll be back during the day on 1 March in any case, which is well within our deadline to move, and I might also be here beforehand once or twice from my hotel room if the wifi works.

8. ..O-O is OK with me, considering we've already made the move.

It was going to be either 8.. d6 or 8.. O-O and with Brian prefering the latter and after some time I felt it offered more opportunities for White to make a mistake while allowing us to develop out king side.